Furnace-grate.



H; L. DOHERTYP FURNACE GRAIE. APPLICATION FILED JAN-17,191].

1,235,121, Patented July 31,1917.

, T- JAE-v1 HENRY L. I)OHERTY, OF- NEW YORK, N. Y.

FURNACE-GRATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 17, 1911. Serial No. 603,081.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY L. DOHERTY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in F urnace-Grates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a furnace grate,

and, in particular, to a centrally-supported movable grate specially adapted for use in a gas producer. 1 The object of my invention is, among other things, to furnish a grate for a gas producer by means of which the whole depth of the fuel bed may be maintained in an active gasifying condition, and the labor of working the fuel bed greatly lightened by the use of mechanically-operated mechanism. 1

To these ends, myinvention comprises a face of the grate is substantially free and unobstructed. The ram and cylinder means serve to guide the movable bars in their upward path, preventing shaking and lateral movement. By causing an up and down motion of the movable grate the ash bed is thoroughly stirred, any clinkers being broken up, and ash in the lower part of the bed forcibly ejected into the ash pit of the producer in the downward travel of the movable bars between the fixed bars.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical diametral section through a producer supplied with my invention on the line A. B of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a horizontal cross-section of the same on the line C D of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a part section similar to Fig.1 on a plane at right angles to that of Fig. 1, through the line E F of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 1s a detail view of the mechanism for forcing the fuel into the fuel bed of the gas producer.

1 refers to the fuel chamber of theproducer, 2 to the lower part or ash-hopper of thesame. 3 are the fixed grate bars of the producer, while the numerals 4 refer to the movable bars. 5 is the metal shell of the producer, '6 the thick firebrick lining of the same. 7 is the hydraulic cylinder, 8 the hollow plunger working in the cylinder which carries the annular piston 9. -10 is a heavy collar attached to the upper extremity of 8 carrying the heavy beams 11 11. 12 is a scraper or packing ring attached to'the upper face of 10 and designed to prevent the entrance of ash into the annular space between the ram 8 and the axial fuel-feedpipe 13. The cylinder 7 is firmly bolted raanteam 31, 1917.

nected with the pump. Inlet valves .20, and

discharge valves 21, are shown diagrammatically on the respective systems of piping. By the proper manipulation of the valves, the piston 9 may be either raised or lowered and the length of the stroke varied.

22 is the fuel-feed cylinder which carries the hopper 23 and (within limits) at will.

the piston 24. 24 is actuated by the piston .rod 25 attached to the eccentric strap 26. The eccentric 27 is attached to the shaft 28, which is rotated by any suitable means. 29 is the blower supplying air to the producer. 30 is the pipe connecting the blower with the air inlet passage 31 in the upper part of the producer. 32 is thegas discharge pipe. 42, 42, etc, are poke-holes in the top of the producer, 33, 33, etc.,- are poke-holes in the wall of the producer. A valve, 34, permits of the gas outlet 32 being closed when the producer is banked or when, for any other reason, such action is desirable. 35, 35, etc., are columns supporting the producer. 36 is the bottom plate of the ash- -pit 37 38 is the guide through which the lower end a heavy collar, 40, to which thefixed bars 3 are attached. Suitable guides, 41, 41, are provided for the beams or crossheads 11, ll which prevent the rotation of the beams with ,their attached bars and in sure that the bars will, on'the downward stroke, always seat themselves in their proper position between thefixed bars. is a-Inan-hole in the top of the producer provided with a cover, 44. 45 is a pipe connecting the blower 29 with a boiler stack or some other source of flue gas. A damper, v

46, on pipe 45 permits of the proper regulationzof the relative proportions of air and flue gas in the draft current,

1 The .method of operating the producer to" v utilize my invention is as follows :'A thick layer of ashes is first built upon the grate of the producer, filling the ash hopper 2,

the materialbeing introduced through the man-hole 43. Kindling is next laid upon the bed of ashes and ignited, the man-hole cover 44'and' ash door 39 being left open to insure a draft through the producer. Fuel is now gradually charged until athick bed of ignited fuel has" been built upiin the producer.

The latter is now in operative condition. The man-hole cover 44 is now closed, the valve 34 opened, and the blower 29 started. The direction of draft through the fuel bed is'now downward, the draft current, consisting of air and products of combustion or of air and steam, entering -at 31, passing through the fuel bed and discharging as producer gas through the pipe 32..

Cy c+o=oo The fuel for the producer, in the con struction shown, is now introduced through the centrally located passagel3 (which had been filled with fuel before starting the producer). The fuel, crushed ifnecessary to the proper size, is fed into the feed-hopper 23 The rotation of the shaft 28 causes a to and fro motion of the rod 25 which, in turn, causes a backward and forward moand tion of the piston or ram 24. The forward stroke of 24 forces the mass of coal in the cylinder-22 and pipe 13 forward, the portion filling thetop of the 13 being pushed into the producer chamber by the coal below it. The friction between the wall of the hori zontal limb of 13 and the coal, and the weight of the latter, prevents a downward movement of the coal in 13 on the backward stroke of the piston. The speed of rotation of the shaft 28 may, of course, be made as 7 regulated.

her 1 as the ash or less dificulty.

boni zation is secured at a sufficiently greatv slow as desired and the rapidity of feed thus The fresh fuel is thus pushed into the interior of the mass of ignited fuel and mushrooms out through the fuel bed. I

There is thus established a positive. circulation of the fuelin the bed. The fresh fuel ascends at the axis" of the bed while the partially consumed fuel and ash descends around the periphery of the producer chamis removed through the grate.- v

To remove the ash, the valves 202l are adjusted so that the piston 9 ascends, forcing upward the hollow plunger 8 withits head 10' and the bars 4 carried bythe beams 11,

11, attached to 10. The upward movement of the bars 4, which, as shown, are provided on their upper surface with a cutting edge,

thoroughly disintegrates the ash mass and loosens up the bed. The upward withdrawal of the bars 4 from the grate above the grate plane leaves a comparatively wide interval between the fixed bars 3, through which more or less of the ash escapes. When the bars 4 have been forced upward through the fuel bed as far as may be desired, the valves 20-21 are shifted and the bars 4 caused to travel downward positively acting to clear the space between the fixed bars. This motion of the bars 4 forces the ash out between the fixed bars '3 into the ashpit 37. From 37, the ash is periodically removed through the door 39, the blower 29 being shut down and valve 34 closed during the removal of the ash. .For assisting in the manipulation of the fuel bed, poke-holes 33 and 42, in the sides and top of the producer, respectively, are provided. By inserting bars through these any arches that may form in the fuel bed or any large clinkers may be broken down.

' By thus introducing the fresh fuel into the interior ofthe fuel bed it is subjected to carbonization and the volatile vapors evolved are compelled to pass in immediate contact with glowing fuel. The heavy tarry vapors are thus cracked down into lighter compounds which arecondensed with greater At the same time, cardepth in the fuel bed to prevent the burning of the rich hydrocarbon gases by the free oxygen of the air. By iny method of charging the fresh fuel, the upper part of the fuel .bed is maintained of ignitedand activelyburning fuel and. therefore in an. active gasifying condition. In downdraft gas producers of the usual type, the upper part of the fuel bed is dead and not ignited and, therefore, of no use for gasification, while offering the same resistance to the passage of the blast, proportionate to its thickness, as the ignited portion of the bed. In my apparatus, I am thus able to work with a greater depth of ignited fuel for the same back pressure on the draft, than is possible in a clown-draft producer with a top fuelfeed. i

Having described my invention, what I claim is: r

1. In combination in a grate, fixed and movable grate bars forming a grate having an unobstructed lower face, the said movable grate bars being alternated in position with the said fixed bars,.and being adapted to move in unison in guided vertical travel, a horizontally disposed beam to which said movable bars are rigidly secured and reciprocating means for forcing said beam and bars upward above and out of the plane of said fixed bars and returning said bars.

2. Incombination in a grate having fixed.

grate bars, a vertically movable'and guided plunger, horizontally disposed beams rigidly attached to the head of said plunger, vert-i-.

cally movable grate bars rigidly attached to andsupported by said beams and means for forcing said plunger and the beams and bars carried thereby to a point above and out of the plane of said fixed bars and for returning said bars to their normal position.

3. In combination, a vertically-movable plunger, horizontally-disposed beams attached to the-head of said plunger, gratebars attached to and supported by the said horizontally-disposed beams and fixed gratebars alternated in position with the said grate-bars attached to said beams.

at. In combination, a hollow, verticallymovable plunger, alined horizontally-disposed beams attached to the head of said plunger, and grate-bars attached to and supported by the said horizontally-disposed beams.

-5. In combination, a hollow, verticallymovable plunger, horizontally disposed beams attached to the head of said plunger, grate-bars attached to and supported by the said horizontally-movable beams and fixed from said fuel bed ash loosened on their up- Ward movement.

7 In a gas producer, means for supporting the fuel bed in said producer, said fuelbed supporting means comprising in combination a vertically-movable plunger, horizontally-disposed'beams attachedto the head of said plunger, grate-bars'attached to and supportedby the said horizontally-disposed beams and fixed grate-bars alternated in position with the said grate-bars attached to said beams.

8. In a gas producer, means for supporting the fuel bed in said producer, said; j

fuel-bed-supportingmeans comprising in combination a hollow vertically-movable-- plunger, horizontally-disposed beams attached to the head of said plunger, gratebars attached to and supported bythe said horizontally-disposed beams, and fixed gratebars alternated in position with the. said grate-bars attached to said beams.

Signed at New York city, in the county v' of New York and State of New York,

16th day of January, A. D. 1911.

WVitnesses:

a J. M. MOMILLIN,

F. L. BLACKBURN.

I ENRY L. DoHnRTY; 

